1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, and, more particularly, to method and apparatus for generating and assigning a cartridge identification number to an imaging cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many imaging apparatus, such as for example an ink jet printer or an electrophotographic (EP) printer, utilize some type of imaging cartridge that includes a supply of imaging substance, such as ink or toner. Some of such imaging cartridges include a memory unit that includes a manufacturer generated identification number that is unique to a particular imaging cartridge. This identification number is used to associate certain printing information with a particular cartridge. Because each number is unique, the number of unique identification numbers may be large, requiring for example, a memory unit having a capacity large enough to store a relatively large unique identification number, as well as associated cartridge usage information.
What is needed in the art is a method and apparatus for generating and assigning a cartridge identification number to an imaging cartridge that does not require a large amount of memory capacity for storing the cartridge identification number.